


Armaros and Ezeqeel

by Kadma32



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angels, Botched Summoning by Humans, Demons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fallen Angels, Ghosts, Humans being humans, Hurt/Comfort, Journey to the Underworld, M/M, Magic, Medium - Freeform, Multi, Nephilim, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Slow Burn, Summoning Circles, Woodland nymphs - Freeform, necromancer - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29695101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kadma32/pseuds/Kadma32
Summary: Armaros, an angel with the power to dispell enchantments, and Ezeqeel, an angel with the power to affect and predict the weather, were two of the Watchers, a selected group of angels chosen to keep an eye out on Earth, to check that everything was going well with humans and their development.The perfect job, Armaros had thought, to stave off the strange feelings that had been creeping up in his soul since the Big Fall.But that job came with an unexpected catch.A catch that would lead him and Ezeqeel to ruin.What happens when a botched summoning by a human releases one, pissed off fallen angel into the wild?From Chapter 1:‘You called Gabriel’‘Yes, I did, but it was clearly a waste of time’ Armaros said, shaking his head. He just couldn’t believe it.‘You called Gabriel and you challenged him’‘Yes, I was there too, but it didn’t lead to anything, did it? Or did you miss something?’Armaros was already disappointed as he was, he needed a minute and…Ezeqeel moved  and hugged him tight.‘What are you doing?’‘I thought I was alone. I thought nobody was ever going to understand. Thank you for proving me wrong’
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Male Character(s)/Original Non-Binary Character(s), Original Male Character/Original Male Character





	1. Gabriel's Performance Review

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that English is not my first language and this work in unbetaed. 
> 
> Also, please accept my apologies for the many theological mistakes present in this story. This story is all based on my admittedly very limited theological knowledge, but it was fun to write.

Armaros was fidgeting. He had been waiting hours outside Gabriel’s office for his one to one meeting and his performance review, but still, the archangel's PA kept on calling everybody but him and when you have ten million members of the heavenly host, it could take some time if you are at the button of the list. To be fair, everybody else was nervous too. Wherever he looked, he could see tense angels, playing with their human body hands, biting their nails or lower lips. And nobody talked, which was possibly the most astonishing thing for a bunch of beings spending most of their eternities singing. But this Performance Review thing was new, something Gabriel had come up with and was sure that one day it was going to be all the rage on Earth too. Everybody suspected that the real reason was to stop another revolt before it could even be thought of. Armaros understood it, he sure did, the fall with their big F, had been the most traumatic experience they had gone through, but was this whole thing necessary? The angels were already jumpy as they were, this was only going to make them feel even worse. 

‘Armaros’ the assistant shouted. So Armaros stood up from his perch at the end of the long corridor where they were asked to wait. Everybody was looking at him. In the complete silence, his own steps sounded so loud to be almost deafening. He made the mistake of looking around himself, only to see some angels whispering to each other as he passed. He immediately brought his attention back in front of himself. 

They all knew about him, right? They surely knew his secret, that’s why they were sniggering now. Oh no, this was going to end up so bad! He finally got to the door. The assistant gave him a once over before taking a step back, sighing as in defeat. Even that unnamed dude knew. He was so going to Fall. He stepped in and the door closed behind him with an ominous thud. Gabriel’s office was nothing like he had ever seen before. The whole room was covered by bookcases filled with leather bound books with gilded titles on them, which were probably related to the archangel’s underlings, judging by titles such as Ezeqeel, Kokabiel and so on. Between the bookshelves, wide, ceiling to floor windows let in the heavenly light, only slightly tampered by the cream coloured drapes. A crystal chandelier came down from the finely decorated ceiling. Opposite the door there was a wide, polished, light coloured desk, with an open book on it and a jet-black quill coming out of what looked like an empty glass jar. But it wasn’t empty, was it? Their ink was just magical, appearing as golden liquid only when the quill was being used. Gabriel was standing up, looking out of the window with his back at Armaros. Did he know he was in? Armaros took a step forward, making a floorboard squeak a little. Gabriel whip around quickly, flashing what Armaros knew was going to be called a salesman smile, the perfect, white teeth showing his perfect, chiselled face. 

‘Ah, Armaros! Come and sit down’ the archangel said, sounding as if Armaros’ arrival was the best piece of news he had heard in forever. Gabriel himself seat behind the big desk and gesture to Armaros to use the chair in the middle of the room, which he hadn't even notice at first, given how unimpressive it looked compared to the rest of the room. 

‘So, are you aware why I’m having you all come here one by one?’ Gabriel asked, putting his human elbows on the table and joining his fingers together. He was looking at Armaros with that piercing blue glare of his. 

All Armaros managed was a nod. 

‘Good. So, according to your records, everything is good, you aren’t involved al all with the bad lot’

‘No, not at all, I don’t even know who they are’ Armaros said quickly. Gabriel lifted his gaze from the book he was consulting and Armaros told himself that he really needed to keep it a little cooler. 

‘But there is one, little, very small detail that is giving me some cause for concern’  
Armaros froze. He tried to think of a way out, but there was nowhere to hide from Gabriel’s piercing gaze. 

‘You have been spotted loitering around human heavens’ Gabriel said, turning the think book around so Armaros could see better the two new pages he had opened. They showed Armaros hiding behind a tree, looking at a family of humans playing with a spherical object, laughing at each other while passing it between them. 

‘And it is not just one instance’ Gabriel said, slowly, deliberately slowly turning the pages around to show him more and more of his evidence. 

‘Why were you there Armaros? You do know that interactions with the humans is forbidden, don’t you?’

‘Right, yes, that was the rule, because the general idea was not to scare human souls, too traumatised after seeing death. But were they so sure it was going to be a problem? Had anybody tested that? Armaros wasn’t so sure.  
‘I’ Armaros started, but how was he going to explain his reason? Gabriel’s gaze was fixed on him, like a hound with his pray. 

‘I was’ 

‘I know what your problem is’ Gabriel suddenly said, interrupting his flow. The archangel closed the book loudly and smiled. 

‘You are bored, aren’t you?’ 

‘What? How?’ Armaros uttered. There was nowhere to hide if Gabriel could just see right through him. Gabriel let himself fall back on the chair, with his hands behind his head and said:

‘You spend every day of your eternal life doing the same thing, and the appeal of the humans, with their ever-changing realities is attractive, isn’t it? Don’t worry though, because I saw it before. It can happen. And you can get out of it’ 

Really? Armaros wasn’t so sure. Armaros wasn’t so sure, all the other angels he talked to seemed always so happy about everything and so blasé about the human heavens. More and more of them were constantly popping up as the human population green and grey and they were just so interesting! The sheer variety of them, each new heaven the location of the one place where the soul had been truly happy in life. 

‘Don’t worry, I have a plan, come’ Gabriel said, walking to the door with a confident stride. 

Armaros didn’t move. 

‘Come on, are you waiting for a written invitation?’ Gabriel said, with a laugh. 

Armaros finally moved and followed him out and down the same corridor he walked before. Again, the waiting angels started whispering to one another, and this time he was tempted to shout:

‘Bye, bye, losers’ but then decided against it, as he wasn’t sure if whatever was happening now still counted as part of the review.  
When they came out of the office building, bathing in the heavenly light, Gabriel few away with his huge white wings. 

‘Come on, let’s see if you can keep up’ 

Call it pressure, racing your boss, great. 

Armaros unfolded his wings and flew away. He chased Gabriel, soaring threw so many human heavens he lost count, till he saw in the distance something he had never seen before. Could there be something? Was he dreaming? It was a tower, made of brownish yellow bricks. Ivy was wrapped around the base of the building. Could it be? Now that he thought of it, he had heard stories of the fabled towers with a team of specialised angels watching down on Earth to check against any illegal actions from demons. The Watchers, they called the. But they were a legend, right? It was a thing invented by some bored cherubim, nothing else. 

Gabriel landed at the bottom of the tower, but there was no door. The archangel snapped his fingers and, suddenly, a door appeared. 

‘To keep the riffraff out, right?’ Armaros said, hoping to break the ice. As Gabriel completely ignored him and walked in the tower, Armaros facepalmed himself. 

As they got in, they started going up a ridiculous amount of steps. Had Gabriel forgot they had wings? Why were they doing this to themselves? But he decided to keep his mouth shut before saying something stupid again. 

‘Are you ready?’ Gabriel said, with a cheeky smile as they got to the top of the tower. 

‘For what? ’Armaros asked. Ok, the crazy white feather was nuts, completely mad, there was nothing there, just an empty. mould-smelling landing. 

‘Gabriel snapped his fingers again and another door appeared. 

‘Push it open’ Gabriel said. 

So he did. A whole other room appeared, a semi-circular room full of light. There was no furniture of any sort, just a light coloured floor and the walls were left completely bear with a little ruff look to them, but nothing of that matter, as Armaros’ attention was completely taken by the one wall in front of him completely covered, ceiling to floor, by a rush of crystal clear water that was showing the reflection of a world he had never seen before. It wasn’t heaven, he was sure of that, the light all around the humans in the picture was not as bright as he was used to, and the colours were a little muted. And there was something wrong with the humans as well. In the picture there was a group of young men standing around another one of them, lying down on the ground with blood drying around his body. Armaros recoiled at the sight. He had never seen something like that before. A new, strange pain gripped his heart. He had to move his eyes away, and it was there and then that he spotted the other angel. Who could he have missed them? They were right in the middle of the room, their eyes, just like Armaros’ had been a moment ago, stuck on the water. Armaros was sure he had never seen them before, which is not uncommon in the heavenly host with all its hierarchy and stuff. 

‘Ezeqeel, Ezeqeel’ Gabriel called, louder the second time. Ezeqeel shook their head and stood up. 

‘Sorry Gabriel, I’ 

Ezeqeel stopped talking as their eyes fixed on Armaros. Did he do something wrong? Did he have a feather out of place? Somehow, he felt even more out of sorts than he had felt in Gabriel’s office. 

‘This is Armaros, a new Watcher in training’ Gabriel said, pushing Armaros’ forward. Wait, Watcher in training?

‘Could you show him the ropes? I will come to collect him when you feel he is ready for his own tower’ 

Ezeqeel was still looking at Armaros when they nodded ever so slightly. 

‘Perfect, it is done. Toddles’ Gabriel said, waving goodbye before he disappeared into this air. 

‘Wait’ Armaros shouted, turning back to the door, but this had disappeared. Wait, how were they ever going to come out? Armaros stared at the spot where the door had been. 

They were trapped. 

In that very moment, Armaros realised that no, he hadn’t passed the Performance Review. 

‘Why did you accept this job?’ Ezeqeel said. Armaros didn’t want to turn around. 

The other angel’s voice sounded scary. 

‘Answer me’ Ezeqeel ordered. 

Oh well, that was that, Armaros had officially enough of all of them. 

‘I didn’t accept anything! He put us all through this “performance review” thing and said he had a way to cure me of my “boredom” only because I have been wandering around human heavens. I didn’t say yes to anything’ 

Ezeqeel went’ quiet. Their whole body slumped a little as they sat down again. 

‘A moment later, a strong wind whipped Armaros’ face. Dense, black clouds gathered on the ceiling and, soon enough, heavy rain started battering down on them. 

‘What is happening?’ Armaros shouted, as he tried to cover himself with his wings. 

‘Oh, sorry, so sorry’ Ezeqeel said, springing up again and waving his hands around. The clouds sure enough disappeared. 

‘Ah, I get it, Ezeqeel, the cloud of God. Quite literally a storm’ Armaros said, smiling a little as he took a step forward to Ezeqeel. If they were stuck with one another, they might as well be friends. 

‘Sometimes I don’t control it very well’ Ezeqeel admitted, looking at anything but Armaros. 

‘I was given this job for the same reason as you’ Ezeqeel confessed. 

‘Come again?’ Armaros had heard the other loud and clear, but he just couldn’t believe it. Had he finally met someone who understood how it felt? Did Ezeqeel know the feeling of having water at your throat when you don’t know where to go to feel better?  
‘I couldn’t fit with the others’ Ezeqeel said, finally looking back at him. 

‘They seem so content’ they continued. 

‘Are you feeling better now? Does the Watcher job work?’ Armaros asked. 

Ezeqeel didn’t answer immediately. They took a deep breath before finally answering with a final tone: 

‘I will let you judge for yourself. Let me show you how the windows work’ 

Ezeqeel directed Armaros’ attention back to the reflecting water. All around them there was a lovely scene of a village party with lots of people everywhere, just dancing and singing in a language that Armaros didn’t understand. 

But he didn’t need to. The sheer delight on their face was enough. They were all smiling at each other, playing around and having fun in what looked like a little round, open space at the centre of the circular space created by their huts all around them. 

‘You can change the scene simply by tapping on the water’ Ezeqeel explained, tapping the water very lightly and yet it was enough for it to ripple around. Those ripples erased the scene they were watching and changed it with another human scene. This time they were watching some humans chasing a mammoth in a snowy setting. 

‘There is technically a remote, but I never use it. If you want to make it louder or quieter, you can just tell it to do so, like “make it louder”’ 

Suddenly, the men’s shouts as they celebrated their successful hunt were deafening loud. 

‘Make it quieter’ And they were just murmuring now. 

‘Well, that seems pretty easy. Where is the catch?’ Armaros asked, crossing his arms/ Gabriel had talked about training, was that it? 

‘We have to keep an eye out of them, check that they don’t do anything too stupid and report if we spot any demonic interference. The thing is, there has not been any so far’  
‘Are they forbidden to go to Earth like we are?’ 

Armaros asked. It seemed unlikely, wouldn’t the demons just love to go up there and make a mess? 

‘I think they are just taking a break. Humans seem to be perfectly capable of messing their own life up, or nature and the natural world do it for them. Come, watch’ Ezeqeel said, inviting Armaros to sit down next to him. That was the closest Armaros had been to another angel in a long time. 

All the doom and gloom Ezeqeel heralded was hard to see. The villagers went back to their huts after the party and all was quiet for a little while, so much so that Armaros was tempted to ask Ezeqeel to change scene to somewhere else where there might be some action, but Ezeqeel told him to be patient and, before he knew it, the sun was dawning again on that little village in the middle of nowhere and very early risers in the tribe were already out. Soon, Armaros and Ezeqeel were laughing at the same things, shouting at the same things and agreeing that humans were just a hot mess. 

‘But it is more interesting than just seeing them in their heavens, right?’ Ezeqeel said, with a knowing smile. 

‘Oh yes. The amount of choices! Look at how Uri got angry for nothing! And their ingenuity? Did you see Keera’s pottery design? Absolutely fantastic!’ Armaros said, hardily containing the excitement. Almost without realising it, he had stood up and was pacing around, secretly wishing he could be pacing around with them. 

‘Wait till you see how they reproduce, absolutely gross’ Ezeqeel laughed. 

But those hard times Ezeqeel had heralded were only around the corner. Suddenly, the season became hotter and hotter. There was no sign of rain for weeks. Soon, the animals migrated, and the greenery dried up. The villagers were forced to move after a few of their youngest and oldest died. 

‘How is this possible? ’Armaros shouted. When Uri died, collapsing on the dusty ground, Armaros’ felt a new pain in himself. It felt like a physical punch in his human like body. 

‘It’s the natural world, I guess’ Ezeqeel replied, shrugging, but not looking directly at Armaros. 

‘What do you mean it’s the natural world, they are suffering’ Armaros shouted, hating that expression on his friend’s face. He hated that pained he felt, but he only imagined Keera’s pain to be infinitely worse. 

And then it appeared right and cleared in his mind. Ezeqeel and Armaros could have done something to avoid this suffering. 

‘I know what you are thinking’ Ezeqeel said, lowering their head at Armaros’ accusation. 

‘You know, but you are not doing anything! And with your weather powers you could have saved them all!’ Armaros shouted, irrationally angry at his friend. 

‘Don’t you think I know that?’ Ezeqeel shouted back, standing up to finally face Armaros. On his part, Armaros was only more inflamed by that reaction. 

‘You could have made it rain on them! You could have saved them all from starvation’ 

‘Shut up!’ Ezeqeel shouted, closing Armaros’ mouth with their hand. 

‘You understand it now, why I let you judge it by yourself? This job is a curse! You fall in love with them, you laugh with them and shout at them for being idiots, but, when it gets ugly, right when you could actually help them, we are not allowed to do anything’ 

‘Are you sure?’ Have you actually ever asked?’ Armaros replied, burning with anger. 

Ezeqeel took a step back. 

‘We are the Watchers, we watch and’ 

‘Have you ever asked Gabriel if you could go down there and help?’ Armaros asked again.

‘No’ Ezeqeel answered, lowering his gaze. 

‘Gabriel’ Armaros shouted, looking at the ceiling. 

Ezeqeel looked terrified as their shared room was completely silent. Then, out of the blue, Gabriel appeared, flashing his perfect smile that Armaros was beginning to know as his trademark. 

‘Yes?’ the archangel asked, when nothing came out of Armaros’ mouth. 

Armaros looked once more at his terrified friend cowering at the sight of Gabriel. That was it, that was the last drop. 

‘Can we go to Earth to help humans?’

Gabriel batted his eyelids twice. 

‘No, of course not’ 

‘Why not? We could help, we really could! Ezeqeel could make the drought stop and I could’

‘You could what, Armaros? Gabriel asked, crossing his arms to his chest. 

‘Come on, let’s have it, you are already in murky waters for even asking’ 

‘Why am I in murky waters? I only want to help. Why do we have all these superpowers of ours otherwise? Why are we even bothering watching what the humans are doing anyway if we can’t do anything?’ 

‘It is not your place to question’ Gabriel replied, with a face like thunder. 

‘But shouldn’t you have the answers?’ Armaros shouted. How could Gabriel not get it? He was an angel too? Didn’t he feel the pain the humans were in?

Gabriel took a step back and closed his eyes for a moment before putting back on his fake smile and he said: 

‘Thank you for your comments. They will be logged and pass on to the relevant administrator. Thank you and goodbye’ and, with a wave, he disappeared. 

When they were sure they were alone, Ezeqeel, staring at Armaros, whispered: 

‘You called Gabriel’ 

‘Yes, I did, but it was clearly a waste of time’ Armaros said, shaking his head. He just couldn’t believe it. 

‘You called Gabriel and you challenged him’ 

‘Yes, I was there too, but it didn’t lead to anything, did it? Or did you miss something?’ 

Armaros was already disappointed as he was, he needed a minute and…

Ezeqeel moved to him and hugged him tight. 

‘What are you doing?’ 

‘I thought I was alone. I thought nobody was ever going to understand. Thank you for proving me wrong’ 

Armaros didn’t say anything back. He didn’t say that he was glad to be there, that he was so happy he was not alone anymore either. But he didn’t. He hoped Ezeqeel understood him when Armaros hugged him back.


	2. Samjaza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armaros and Ezeqeel sneak out of the tower and, on their return, they receive a very interesting proposition.

They settled back down to watch humans, but they decided to change around the channels a little and, instead of just watching, they would copy them. They started closing their eyes at the same time as the humans they decided to follow for the day. They would march on the spot when they saw them walking. They kissed when they saw them kissing. And thanks to Ezeqeel’s powers, they had a special type of snow that they could use just as the clay they were seeing the humans using to make their pots. 

‘How is it that I’m an ethereal being full of love and power and I can’t make a clay vessel as good as them?’ Armaros said, throwing the coil he was trying to put together against the one brick wall in their prison. 

‘Look’ Ezeqeel said, making quick work of their vessel, showing a lovely rope like design. 

‘Ta-da!’ 

‘You are cheating, snow is your thing, snow is your thing, after all, right?’ Armaros replied. 

‘I guess...wait, what’s yours?’ Ezeqeel asked. They had talked about literary anything, but Armaros had never confessed that little secret. 

‘Nothing really’

‘Come on! We all have something special, right? What’s yours?’ 

‘Nothing that special’

‘So?’ Ezeqeel said, throwing him a made from nothing snowball. 

‘Ok, Ok, I can dispel enchantments’ 

‘What does that mean?’

‘That I can dispel any enchantments, nothing more than that. Not much use on Earth, right?’ Armaros replied, letting out in the open the thought that had been hammering in his brain the whole time since their talk with Gabriel. Even if, by the grace of the Lord, they succeeded in getting down to Earth, what would even be the point of him being there. Ezeqeel could save them from weather related disasters, Armaros would have been useless, as there was no magic on Earth as far as they could see. 

Ezeqeel frowned, deep in thoughts, leaving Armaros more agitated than he thought possible.

‘So, does it mean you can break the spell Gabriel put on the door?’ 

Wait, he never thought of that. Technically yes, but could he really do it?

‘No, that’s too high level, it’s the will of an archangel, I can’t do it’ 

‘Or, well, you could try anyway. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, no harm done. But if it works, we could go for a walk or something’ 

‘I didn’t think you were that desperate to have a wonder back in Heaven’ 

‘But wouldn’t that be the sweetest revenge on the guy who threw us in here to avoid trouble?’ Ezeqeel said, crossing their arms. 

‘Good point’ Armaros said. 

‘But don’t keep your hopes up, it might not work’ Armaros said, before closing his eyes and concentrating. With his mind’s eye he could spot spells as they appeared as bright red, as if they were emanating heat. 

Gabriel’s one was so strong it was red hot. OH, it was never going to happen. He was about to open his eyes again, when the first few drops of a drizzle fell on him. 

‘I’m with you, you are not alone’ Ezeqeel said. 

Armaros smiled to himself as he took a step forward to touch the door. The spell was like a chain he needed to break down. He was going out of the room. He was going to get to Earth and help humans. 

He was going to make Ezeqeel happy. 

Just like that a loud crack shuttered the silence of the room. Armaros opened his eyes to see the door appear. He burst out laughing: 

‘I did it! I did it! In your face G’

Ezeqeel put their hands on his mouth before he could say the name in full. 

‘Don’t say his name, just as a precaution’ 

Armaros nodded and was freed. Both of them quickly rushed down the stairs and out of the other door, which was open too as the stupid feather headed archangel has connected the two spells together. 

And they were out!

He had forgotten how beautiful it was. The colours had a sparkling quality that the Earth ones didn’t seem to have. The light was something else here too: by simply being bathed in it, Armaros felt better, the anger towards Gabriel disappeared, and even the pain at seeing all those humans dying grew duller. 

‘I bet my wings are bigger than yours’ Ezeqeel said, with a grin on their face. 

‘Ah, but I fly father’ Armaros said, stretching his wings before taking off. 

Ah, it felt so good! The release of the built-up tension made him smile as the both soared through human heavens. There were so many more than he remembered! How long had he been in the tower? 

The two of the flew and flew till the fear that Gabriel might discover them and put an even stronger spell on the door made them go back. That would be their special way out, when everything became too much to bear. 

Still surprised that Gabriel hadn’t come down on them in a flurry of thunder and lightning the two of them closed the door and flew up the stairs. 

‘Was walking it all the way up a twisted test of resilience?’ 

‘I wouldn’t be surprised’ Ezeqeel replied, laughing as they pushed the door open only to jump back the moment, they saw that there was someone in there. Armaros recognised him immediately: it was Gabriel’s assistance. But he didn’t have the threatening face of an intern sent to do their master’s dirty work. On his handsome face there was just one of those grins you see on know it all people when they think they have something they can use against you. 

‘Welcome back’ the stranger said, with a deep bow that didn’t have anything respectful about it. 

‘Who are you?’ Ezeqeel asked.

‘My name? My name is Samjaza’ the other said, and suddenly everything made more sense! Now Armaros knew where he had seen him before and why he had felt so uneasy in his presence. Samjaza had been one of the few angels that, somehow, against all logic, had not fallen. Everybody knew he was closed to the damned. Everybody knew that he was always thinking something potentially dangerous. Somehow, by the looks of it, he had weaselled his way out to become Gabriel’s assistance. 

‘Don’t worry, I’m not here on official duties’ 

‘Why are you here at all then? Will you rat us out?’ Armaros asked, trying very hard to keep the fear at bay. 

‘Don’t worry, Gabriel doesn’t care if you leave the tower for a bit! It is actually kind of expected of you to figure out a way to pop out now and again. Anybody would go nuts being closed in here the whole time’ 

‘How do you know?’ 

‘I was a Watcher too, once’ Samjaza replied candidly. 

‘Are you here to take Armaros away?’ Ezeqeel asked, speaking so quickly Armaros himself almost didn’t catch all that they said. 

‘Samjaza laughed, and that sound had a strange, calming effect on Armaros’ mind. Wait a second. He had no reason to be calmer at all! And yet...he looked at Samjaza and it quickly became clear: if Armaros had a knack for annulling spells, Samjaza was great at creating them, as he had done so with his own voice. 

‘Would you give me a minute and explain gosh, you are two are two, stressed out beings, aren’t you?’

Armaros and Ezeqeel looked at each other. They needed to get rid of that presence as soon as possible. 

‘Not one for laughs, aren’t you? Well, fair enough, let’s get to business. My associate and I are planning on getting to Earth’ 

‘What? But Gabriel…’

‘Who said that my associate is Gabriel?’ Samjaza said, before winking and starting to walk around their room, almost smashing two of the snow pots Ezeqeel had kept aside. Armaros wanted that angel gone as soon as possible. 

‘We have it all figured out. We have it all figured out. WE have obtained twenty bodies, twenty, earth proof bodies ready for any angel who might like to go to Earth and make a change for the better’ 

‘For the better of who? Yours? Ours? Or the humans? Armaros remembered the voices, he had heard them too, angels whispering to one another how nothing was the same since the humans had arrived. Samjaza had been there too. No, no, this whole think stank like crazy.

‘For the humans, of course! There is nothing that we couldn’t do for them in we were to travel down’ 

‘How would it even work? Gabriel and the other archangels would be onto us like lightning’ Ezeqeel said. 

Armaros couldn’t believe his ears. Was Ezeqeel even considering this? 

‘Not if you have our abilities. My associate and I can create spells strong enough to cast a protective layer on your room’ he said, looking around with just a vague air of disgust about him. 

‘Gabriel willnot suspect a thing’ 

‘That was why he came to them, and why he was probably going to visit all the other Watchers: the protective spells would need to engulf only the tiny space of the tower, not the wide heaves were the other angels might wander. 

‘What do you say?’ Samjaza asked, extending his hand. 

‘What’s the catch?’ 

‘There is no catch’ 

‘There is always one. There was one even with the Watcher job’ Armaros replied. He would have loved to accept the offer, but he had already been played around by Gabriel, he was not going to be a puppet for someone else again. 

He grabbed Ezeqeel’s hand and said: 

‘We will get to Earth our way, without hurting anybody’ 

Samjaza took a deep breath and exhale quite loudly even if he didn’t need to. 

‘Well, if you change your mind, we will meet anybody interested in the project in twenty days on Mount Hermon’ 

‘Mount Hermon is on Earth. How would we even get there?’ 

‘Just give me a shout’ Samjaza winked again and left. 

Armaros and Ezeqeel just stood there for a moment, unsure if what just happened actually happened or it was all just a dream. 

‘Shall we seat?’ Ezeqeel asked. They looked pensive, a permanent frown on their face. 

‘Yes, let’s’ Armaros replied. They stayed in silence for a while, just watching human lives go by. 

‘Do you think…’ Ezeqeel started

‘We should call him and accept?’ Armaros completed the sentence. Both chuckled and then got serious again. 

‘Seriously, do you think we should?’ Armaros asked. 

He could see his same feelings reflected on his friend’s face. They wanted, really wanted to go, but falling, really falling, was too scary a thought. 

They wrapped each other into one another and just watched on in silence.


	3. Earthbound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a demon wrecks havoc in Armaros and Ezeqeel's favourite village, both angels realise that it's time to take action.

Things went back to normal. 

Every now and again Armaros was plagued by the thought that maybe they shouldn’t lose that opportunity, but then he would look up at the ceiling of their tiny room and flinch when he thought he could hear the rumblings of a thunder. 

Ezeqeel seemed fine, even though they were smiling less and their grip on the snow spell was faltering, sometimes letting a beautifully made vessel melt. 

It was in this frame of mind that they noticed, for the first time, that in their favourite village one of the goats the humans were starting to keep was not quite like the others.  
At first Armaros thought the stress of the last few days was getting to him. How could a goat’s eyes turn completely black? And for just a second? It had really been a blink and you miss it situation, maybe it was just him. But it happened again. And again. 

‘Did you see it too?’ Armaros asked his friend, who just nodded, so glued to the reflective water. 

‘Should we call Gabriel?’ 

‘Only to be told “thank you for your comment, goodbye” again?’ Armaros replied, although he knew that they had to do something. But what?  
Their suspicions became reality a couple of days later, when a young child was sent to mind the goats. He touched the one Armaros and Ezeqeel suspected. The animal’s eyes turned completely black and flakes of black dust fell from its skin. 

‘Wait, what?’ they heard the boy say as he took a step back. The goat’s entire body quickly turned to dust. The body scrambled away, shouting, but it was too late. The evil spirit who had inhabited the goat got hold of his young body. In front of the Watchers’ disbelieving eyes, his body twisted and crumbled to the floor, the child shouting. Suddenly, black foam came to his mouth, right when the villagers rushed forward to help. They had a woman expert in medicines, she could normally concoct all sorts of drinks, that sometimes would work, sometimes wouldn’t, but she had no hope against the work of a demon. 

‘Gabriel!’ Armaros shouted without thinking twice about it. 

For a moment, nothing happened. 

‘Gabriel!’ Armaros shouted again, even more panicked as the boy got worse and worse, till his body stopped twitching. 

Only then Gabriel appeared. 

‘Yes?’ he said.

Armaros faltered for a moment. How would Gabriel be so not bothered?

‘Demons!’ he finally shouted, pointing at the windows. 

‘A demon just possessed a boy and killed him! We need to go down and help! I need to help’ Armaros said, letting the anger out. He looked at his hands. He had enough magic in him to stop that goat demon, he was sure of it. 

‘Thank you for your comment. It will’ 

‘Oh, don’t give that! We need to do something!’

Gabriel smiled. 

‘Oh, you don’t need to do anything. Remember, you are a watcher. You watch. Ezeqeel teach your charge to be more respectful’ 

Ezeqeel didn’t reply, but the darkest clouds started to gather on the ceiling of the room. Gabriel disappeared right before the most torrential rain broke. 

‘That feathered head!’ Armaros heard Ezeqeel mutter as they tried to gather back the clouds, that as far as Armaros was concerned, were welcome to stay, as his own mood was thunderous. Gabriel wasn’t listening. Well, Armaros was going to be damned if he was not going to force the archangel to pay attention. 

The goat demon stroke again. And again. And again. And each time both Armaros and Ezeqeel called Gabriel to show him the fresh victim on the ground and the wailing of the villagers. 

‘Aren’t you a little concerned? The demon is targeting only young people’ Ezeqeel said, trying to speak to Gabriel in reasonable terms after they had convinced Armaros to try a different approach. 

‘Yes, it is concerning, you are right to be worried and report this. Trust that things will be looked into and addressed’ 

‘Will you bring forward our proposal to go to Earth and help?’ 

‘I will pass your comment along. Keep faith’ Gabriel said, patting Ezeqeel on the shoulder before disappearing. 

‘See, maybe this time it will work? Shouting doesn’t always help’ Ezeqeel said, all proud as a peacock. Armaros really didn’t want to destroy his friend’s hopes, but somehow, he was not surprised when they didn’t get to hear anything back from Gabriel. 

‘What do we do now?’ Ezeqeel asked in a whisper, when another young person was claimed by the goat demon. The priestess of the village was cast out, which seemed to calm the spirits of the villager a little but didn’t eliminate the problem. 

‘You know, we could still call another angel’ Armaros said, not speaking the name of Samjaza out loud but Ezeqeel knew who he meant. 

‘What do you think?’ 

‘You know that if we agree with you know who’ Ezeqeel looked all around themselves. 

‘There is a very high chance we might fall’

‘But doesn’t this feel a little like falling?’ Armaros replied. For the past few human days, he had felt a constant pang of pain, fear and so much anger he could burst. 

‘I don’t know’ 

‘We could just go and listen to what they have to say and then decide. That should hurt, should it?’ Armaros said, trying to stop himself from directing his anger at Ezeqeel. Was his best friend turning out to be an obstacle to the only way out he was seeing? 

‘Are you sure we could just do that? You know who is mischievous, I don’t know…’

‘Come on Ez, let’s just go and listen. If there is any sign of danger, we will go. Armaros insisted. He really wanted to go. 

Ezeqeel hesitated. They bit their lips, looked around, till they finally let out a long breath and said:

‘Ok, let’s call him’ 

Armaros smiled and said: 

‘Samjaza’ 

Nothing. 

'Samjaza?’ Armaros said, a bit more hesitantly. He told them to call him if they changed their mind, right? Where was he?

‘See, maybe we shouldn’t trust him’ Ezeqeel said, shaking their head. 

‘Right then a breathless Samjaza opened wide the door to their room. 

‘Sorry, for the delay. It was a little difficult to get away from Gabriel’ he said, as he composed himself. 

‘What did you do to him anyway? He was furious’ 

Armaros smiled at that revelation. He hadn’t obtained anything yet, but at list he had pissed off his boss big time. 

‘Long story. Anyway, we want in your plan’ Armaros said, speaking so quickly. He was far too excited. He could hardly bear it as he stood up, ready to follow Samjaza even if Ezeqeel was still frowning a little. Why were they not fully on board? Part of Armaros was thinking that he didn’t care, if Ezeqeel wanted to stay they could. But deep down he knew he was never going to abandon this friend. 

‘Excellent! Let’s go’ Samjaza grabbed both of them and teleported them away 

Armaros opened his eyes when the biting cold made him shiver violently. He was speechless at the beauty in front of him: a vast horizon with other, smaller mountains and more gentle hills was sprawling right underneath them. They were standing on a flat platform covered in snow. He moved a little, making it crunch under himself. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to open his wings and fly out there. His whole being was burning as he stood on the edge between his old self and all the possibilities in front of him.  
He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he almost jumped when Ezeqeel took his hand. 

‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ they said, with the quiet voice they used so rarely, but that made Armaros’ whole being feel electrified. 

‘Yes. And we are so closed’ Armaros replied. Then dropping the volume to almost nothing, he said:

‘We could, you know’ 

Ezeqeel’s eyes sparkled for a moment, but Samjaza, right when they were about to reply, coughed loudly. 

‘Come on love birds, time to get in’ Samjaza said.

‘In where?’ 

‘We are currently on the human side of the mountain. You don’t really think we are going to have our secret meeting out here’ he said, before grabbing them both and dragging them forward. 

‘What are you doing?’ Armaros said, trying to get out of Samjaza’s grip, but he found he couldn’t, as the other angel dragged them both towards the rock wall. 

He had time for one more glimpse at the world out there, before they were dragged beyond. 

The more ethereal side of mount Hermon was the complete opposite of the frozen landscape they had seen a moment ago. They were now in the lushest garden Armaros had ever seen, even more so than the garden of Eden. As far as he could see, everything was bright green, from the perfectly maintained grass to the trees, heavy with colourful fruit, to the parrots, chatting to themselves in the branches. Armaros smiled as he saw Ezeqeel beaming at the sight of the many fountains, peppered here and there, some of them shaped to look like mythological creatures, from unicorns to mermaids. In the distance, he spotted a house. It didn’t look too grand, only two floors, spread out in a little clearing between the trees. 

‘Let me show you in, I bet everybody would be delighted to see you’ Samjaza said. still dragging them away and into the black and white house. 

As they entered, they found themselves in a vast environment, covered in warm colour carpets and tapestries around the walls, showing, at a closer inspection, the slow but steady steps of evolution. The empty pars of the walls had strange looking weapons in shiny materials that seemed to come from the future, as Armaros had not seen any of them in the hands of humans yet. On the other side of the entry door there was a huge fireplace, the fire crackling away. Near it, an angel was sitting on a highly decorated golden throne. Armaros recognised his immediately, it was Azazel. Of course, it was. He should have expected Samjaza’s partner to be the other weirdest angel left in heaven after the great war. Even in that very moment, his smile seemed to hide a whole world of truths. 

In front of the throne there were eighteen chairs, with only two left. 

‘Go, sit down’ Samjaza whispered, before Azazel stood up and said:

‘Welcome, welcome, my friends, we were waiting for you’

Armaros recognised immediately in Azazel’s voice the same enchantment Samjaza had tried to use on them. He grabbed Ezeqeel’s hand and they sat down, trying to protect his friend from the charm. He felt tension mounting up. Was Azazel going to let them out if they refused to join the group? Azazel stood up and walked away from his throne towards his audience, down the aisle created by the two sets of chairs. Everyone was looking at him in complete silence. 

‘Watchers. We are the ones that keep an eye out of things. Whoever recruited you probably told you that this is a vital job, that the intelligence we gather from the archangels helps shape up the decisions the higher uppers take. They never say anything, not a single word’ he stressed the single word quite a lot. 

‘About human pain’ 

Then he took a pause as he walked till the end of the aisle. Armaros himself found that he was enchanted by his words, even after having nuked Azazel’s spell. 

‘We have all seen it in the multiple shades it takes, from a tribe decimated by crop failures, to droughts, to war and more recently from children taken away but nothing less than a goat demon’ 

Armaros felt his heart pound much faster. 

Azazel had seen it too! 

‘We all felt their pain, right in our spirit. Not for any faults of ours, but because of love. We are made of love! How can they ask us to keep quiet, to just “watch”, when we could save those very beings we came to care for?’ he said, the anger in his voice rising significantly. The audience was noisy now, the angels muttering with one another as Azazel walked back up the aisle towards his throne. He was shaking his head all the way through. 

‘We are angels and a core part of our being is to be true to ourselves. How can they tell us to stamp love out? I say this stops now! I say we go to Earth and make what we are supposed to do! How is with me?’ he shouted, and a roar broke from the crown and Azazel smiled. When the angels calmed down, Azazel, still smiling, said: 

‘I have twenty bodies, twenty earth proof bodies ready for anybody wanting to go and make a difference’ 

Ezeqeel’s hand shot up but, before Armaros could say a thing, Azazel said: 

‘What is it, friend?’

‘These bodies, how did you get them? If they are Earth proof, did you kill some humans to obtain them?’

Armaros saw Azazel’s eyes move quickly from Ezeqeel to Armaros. Shut, he knew Armaros had protected Ezeqeel from the voice spell, that was the reason why nobody else had objected. Oh, he was so dead. 

‘No, I didn’t kill anybody. We want to save all humans, why would I hurt some in the process?’ the crowd murmured in assent. 

‘I simply found the strongest bodies I could find within the dead. We are just borrowing meant suits that have been abandoned long enough’ 

‘So, we’ 

Armaros elbowed Ezeqeel in the side. Ezeqeel was shut long enough for Azazel to start talking again. 

‘Why did you do that? Did you hear it? We are going to turn into zombies!’ Ezeqeel; hissed. 

‘I know, but Azazel is dangerous. Don’t make him angrier’ Armaros replied, with the only result of Ezeqeel getting angry, shutting themselves up. 

‘Anybody has any further questions?’ 

Another hand shut up, another angel two rows away from them. Uhm, had Armaros just been awfully paranoid? Maybe there was no spell after all. 

‘Yes, Kokabiel?’ Azazel said, very candidly. 

‘What’s the catch?’ she asked. Armaros smiled to himself. Another likeminded angel, great! 

Azazel smiled broadly. 

‘That is a good question and it has a simple answer’ Azazel paused a moment. If it was meant for the audience, it wasn’t funny. 

‘I only ask you to sign an oath of mutual help’ he said matter of factly, as if he was just commenting on the nature of being. 

‘Help with what?’ 

‘If the archangels were to find us gone and come down on us, I want to have an official oath from you all that we will all share in the punishment, that you will not let the black fall solely on me’ he explained. Yes, it was easy and sensible enough, Armaros could see how Azazel had come up with that idea. With an oath like that, he was not going to be the one object of divine wrath, hopefully making the punishment less severe. 

All the angels were muttering, talking more and more loudly to each other. 

‘It’s a big decision and I don’t want to force anybody. Please step outside, enjoy the garden and then, when you have a decision, come back and tell us’ 

Ezeqeel was out of the door extremely quickly, Armaros tried to keep up, but ended up stuck behind some of the others, who were making excited comments about the possibility of finally be in contact with humans. When he was finally out, Ezeqeel seemed vanished into thin air. 

‘This bloody garden is far too big’ Armaros muttered to himself as he walked a fair distance before he finally saw his friend. Ezeqeel was standing in front of a tall fountain shaped as an apple tree. Water was coming out from the tip of the branches and from the perfectly shaped fruit. Ezeqeel was moving their hand around, making the water around the plant in concentric circles. Armaros stopped in his tracks. Ezeqeel had already run away once, were they going to disappear again if he were to get too close?

Armaros took one, cautious step but even then Ezeqeel heard him. 

‘I know you are there’ They said, with a chastising voice but without turning around. 

Armaros stopped again. He didn’t know what to say or do. It would have helped at least to know what he wanted, but he wasn’t even sure. He knew though that, whatever it was, he wanted his friend with him. 

‘Should we not even consider the offer?’ he asked, with the most soothing voice he could master. 

‘We will be in prison’ 

‘What do you mean?’ 

Ezeqeel finally turned. 

‘If we sign that oath, we will be linked forever to a bunch of angels who we don’t really know. A bunch of angels who could go nuts once released on Earth! They could attract the attention of the archangels and then we would get it in the neck because we signed an oath’ Ezeqeel shouted even more loudly. 

Armaros stayed as neutral as he could throughout the outburst. Ezeqeel was right, absolutely. The risk was high, he didn’t trust Samjaza and Azazel one bit, but clearly there were more sensible ones like Kokabiel. 

‘We would be in prison anyway, we just have a different jailer now’ Armaros replied, thinking about that little room of their own, because, for as much as they kid themselves to be free between those walls and had fun with their snow and all, they both knew they were never going to get out of it by themselves. Worst, one day Gabriel could come and take Armaros away to a tower of his own, never to see his friend again. 

Ezeqeel didn’t reply. They stopped moving their hand and all the happy drops of water fell back down in the fountain. 

‘If your fear is just those angels, I promise you, we will keep an eye out on them and stop them from causing trouble. We will keep them away from danger’  
Ezeqeel was looking at the grass very intently. 

‘Do you not trust me?’ Armaros asked, taking a step forward with a new resolution cursing through him. He was going to keep Ezeqeel safe, if that was the last thing he did with his life.

Ezeqeel lifted their eyes finally and, after a moment, they said:

‘I trust you. But how will we do it?’ 

‘Always the practically minded, aren’t you?’ Armaros said, with a forced laugh, trying to relax the mood. He took one more step and now that they were finally close enough, he patted his friend on the shoulder and said:

‘We always find a way. We will find our path even now. After all, didn’t I break through a tough, archangel spell for you?’ he said, with as bright a smile as he could master.

‘You broke one spell, one, and I will be condemned to hear about it for all eternity, am I right?’ 

‘Oh yes, baby’ 

Armaros and Ezeqeel were the last ones to come back. Azazel was sitting back on his throne, but now, in front of it, there was a little table, with nothing on it. 

‘Welcome back everybody. I am glad to see you all. Now, please, pay attention to Samjaza, who will read out the oath of cooperation’ 

Samjaza stopped out of the darkness in the corner with a scroll of parchment in his hands and read the oath out. 

‘We the Watchers, gathered here today in a harmonious assembly, swear to help humans face the troubles and tribulations on Earth, sharing with them our knowledge and skills. We also take full responsibility to come and help each other should any threats from above come our way’ 

Samjaza then set the parchment down on the table in front of Azazel and asked Kobabiel, from the front row, to be the first to sign. She didn’t say a word, she just stood up and, gracefully, walked to the table. Azazel was beaming at her and at the audience, but she didn’t say a thing again. She simply took the gold quill Azazel was giving her and signed the oath. One by one, all the others did it. When their turn came, Armaros and Ezeqeel went up together. 

‘Always together, aren’t you? In his idiocy, Gabriel really chose well’ Azazel said, smiling at then in his most saccharine way. 

Gosh, Armaros really had enough of that angel. Who thought it was a good idea to make an angel so creepy? When he passed the feather to Ezeqeel, they took it but stopped for a moment, staring at the parchment. 

‘It’s ok’ Armaros found himself saying, and Ezeqeel signed. 

‘Fantastic!’ Azazel said, standing up. He just touched the oath, and this disappeared somewhere safe. 

‘Now for the fun part, follow me’ 

They all stepped outside. Armaros had expected to find the promised bodies, but there was nothing, literary nothing, as a sheer drop had taken the place of the pretty garden. They were on the edge of an abyss. If you were to look down, you could only see darkness. 

‘Where are the bodies, you may ask. Well, they will materialise as you jump down’ Azazel said. 

‘What?’ Are you expecting us to jump into the unknown like that? Where are we even?’ Kobabiel said out loud. 

‘I know you don’t like me, I get it, but you signed an oath as much as I did. I asked for your support in exchange for the bodies. They will be here, otherwise the oath will dissolve and you all will go back up to the pearly gates of heaven, don’t worry’ he said, before taking one more step to the abyss. One more and he would fall. 

‘And, just to prove my point, I will jump first’

And he took the last step, disappearing immediately from view. 

Armaros and Ezeqeel looked at each other, held each other, and jumped together into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 
> 
> Do let me know if you have any constructive feedback!


End file.
